Hungry Ghosts
by Nyakai
Summary: 8 years after Ozai's defeat, the human world is at peace, but the spirit world is still as unpredictable as ever. With Autumnal Equinox approaching, an earthbending family harassed by unfriendly ghosts sends for the Avatar's help before the 2 worlds align
1. Enter the Master

**Disclaimer:** lol, Avatar's not mine. The guys who make the profits off of it own it… I just make up a few characters to play in their world.

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**Chapter 1**

Ke Li brushed her shaggy dark hair out of her eyes and peered out the window of the carriage. She loved the innermost parts of Ba Sing Se, the wealthiest section with its grand houses and magnificent gates. She hardly got the chance to visit her uncle and his family anymore because they were so busy, but this was a special occasion. Ke Li had heard that this was an important event, but hadn't quite realized the significance of it until her uncle Choi had actually sent his komodo horse-drawn carriage to pick her up. It wasn't like Ke Li lived terribly far away, only in the next partition down, still well inside the walls of the rich. But the carriage had never been sent before.

Ke Li couldn't stop a wide grin from breaking on her face as she approached her Uncle's house. The gates, tall, wide, and boldly displaying the family name at the top, had to be the biggest in the city— next to the king's, of course. The winding lane to the house was lined with statues and tasteful plants, and farther off in the yard were gardens, stables, the cemetery, and many houses which Ke Li fondly remembered playing in as a child. She could also see some of her uncle's students practicing in the yard.

She brushed her short hair out of her eyes again to glance at the main house. The girl felt so much more _grand_ arriving in a carriage. She saw here favorite cousin, Shai waiting on the front marble steps in one of her best dresses, and while Ke Li usually just pounced on her at first sight, this stately way of arrival made her think differently.

The komodo horse-drawn carriage pulled up to the steps, a footman opened the door and Ke Li emerged in a dignified way, herself in her best dress of green silk and carrying herself as a lady should. She approached Shai and bowed to the reasonable degree called for in such circumstances.

"I'm honored you have invited me to your home, and I humbly bring this gift as a token of my gratitude," Ke Li recited as the footman brought forward a package wrapped in colorful cloth. Shai took it and put her other hand on her hip.

"Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?"

Ke Li couldn't hold back a snort of laughter and pounced on the other girl, long sleeves flailing. Shai took her hands and led her through the labyrinth of halls and waiting rooms to Shai's personal chamber. Ke Li took her usual seat, in front of the window overlooking the family cemetery on the side of the property.

"I haven't been here in so long!" sighed the girl as she sprawled herself over some pillows in a very un-ladylike way. Her younger cousin sat properly near her.

"I'm glad you're to stay the week. Father brought you to see the final tests of his most advanced students. Since you fancy earthbending so much." Shai almost whispered the last part as if it were a scandalous secret. Both girls played along like it was.

Ke Li nearly gasped, "Is it that obvious?"

"Oh, the whole family knows," she leaned in and clutched her cousin's hands, "that you secretly want to be an earthbender." The two collapsed with giggles.

"Unless you've finally given that up," Shai said, leaning back.

"No, I still want to be a bender. It's outrageously unfair that your father's the only one in our whole family," replied Ke Li seriously. "But I'm glad to see his students in their bending tests." She suddenly sat up, wide-eyed. "Are they going to dine with us tonight? Or ever?"

Shai laughed. "If anyone, it would be Fong Du. He's father's favorite." She eyed Ke Li closely as the older cousin slid further down the pillows.

"Du's okay, I guess. He was the best in the second term tournament, after all, but… would there be any chance of Xue coming?"

Shai stallingly straightened her skirt, smoothing out the creases in a more thorough way than usual. "Father's not been too happy with Yan Xue lately," she admitted at last. "He's been improvising on the techniques more often and he needs to just stick to what he's taught."

"That's what makes him so great, though!" Ke Li nearly erupted, bouncing out of her slouch and leaning forward excitedly. "He learns the bending moves, then makes them his own! He's an artist, not just another bender… I would definitely do the same if I could bend."

"And who would teach you?" was Shai's quick response, accompanied with an amused scoff. Her skirt was no longer the object of her attention.

Ke Li gave a determined, boyish nod. "Uncle Choi, of course."

"You'd be even worse than Yan Xue. You'd change father's lessons so much he'd kick you out."

Ke Li's Uncle Choi was a proficient bender and he shared his skills with any young hopeful student with enough money to afford his teaching. He was known throughout Ba Sing Se and the surrounding towns, and it was the dream of any bender growing up there to be trained by such a master. _The_ master. And Ke Li would have given anything to really be one of his students. Choi was one of the few masters who accepted female benders as students. Ke Li was jealous.

"If Uncle wouldn't teach me, then I'd seek out Captain Tso," she announced decidedly. She stood up and struck an overly-dramatic earthbending pose. "He would teach me and let me experiment as much as I wanted. Just like he was trained." Ke Li's long sleeves got in the way as she tried a series of punches she had seen Choi's students practicing.

"You're obsessed," sighed Shai. She leisurely ducked out of the way of one of her cousin's stray sleeves.

"You were just like this a few years ago, too."

"_Eight_ years ago." The slight edge to Shai's voice made Ke Li stop, looking scolded. "I've grown up. I still appreciate what he did, but I don't want to _be_ him, like you do."

Captain Tso was legendary. He was the instigator of the resistance movement in Ba Sing Se during the Fire Nation occupation in the war. He was a decisive help when the White Lotus masters infiltrated the city, and for his bravery he was bestowed the title of war hero. It just wasn't clear what happened to him after that. There were reports of him being wounded and taken to an earthbending healing camp, but there he disappeared. And Shai was often the recipient of all of Ke Li's unique, though mostly outrageous, conspiracy theories.

Ke Li sat back on the mountain of pillows. "Yeah, well I'll never know because no one's seen him in nearly a decade." She began to play with one of her long sleeves.

"Oh, haven't you heard?" chirped Shai, a scandalous grin seeping onto her face. Ke Li instantly looked up, but only arched a brow suspiciously.

"Heard what?"

"Captain Tso's been invited back to the capital for the heroes welcome he didn't get all those years ago… and he's actually coming."

Ke Li seemed petrified, not blinking, not even breathing for the longest time. Finally, when her cousin was about to go for help, she gasped, "They've _found_ him?!"

"Yes, and the ceremony's in a month, so calm down!" Shai's protest could not stop Ke Li from tackling her, emitting an ear-piercing scream.

"Ke… no… my dress— my hair!" Shai struggled free and instantly felt her head, assessing the damage. She took her tine readjusting her long black hair in the large, poofy style she believed made her appear older. It worked to her advantage. Ke Li remained on the ground, rolling around some and giggling almost madly while Shai attended to smoothing her dress.

"You get excited at everything," she said in her perfected condescending tone. Ke Li rolled onto her stomach and had trouble propping her chin on her hands with her sleeves caught underneath her.

"I wonder where he's been all this time. Hunting down Ozai loyalists throughout the kingdom? Journeying across the Fire Nation on a quest for enlightenment?"

"Living a boring life in a small fishing town in the Northern Water Tribe?" Shai supplied in a friendlier tone now that the dress situation was under control.

"How do you know this?" demanded Ke Li hoarsely. The younger cousin almost looked concerned.

"I heard it from Father."

Ke Li seemed to melt there on the floor. "Uncle Choi knows Captain Tso?" She had to bite her lower lip to keep from squealing again.

"Oh, no," mumbled Shai, "not again. You _always_ get like this when it comes to good benders. You start crushing." That snapped Ke Li out of her puddle-state.

"Do _not!_ I just… appreciate people who are skilled at something I'd kill to be able to do."

"Fine then. Hero worship. Either way it's unbecoming. Mother says—" Shai was interrupted by the clatter of komodo horse hooves. Ke Li instantly jumped up and dashed to the window of the opposite wall. She watched the carriage be pulled down the long path all the way to the front door.

However, the Choi's house was large and Shai's room was about as far away from the front door as you could get.

"Who is it?" Shai inquired without the faintest hint of curiosity from across the room. Choi was so well-known that hardly two days went by where the house did not receive some visitor or another. Most of the time the visitors were nobodies, but on several occasions, high ranking military officials conveniently paid visits in time to be fed dinner.

"I can't tell. No uniform or fancy dressing," Ke Li reported like usual. Dress was the biggest giveaway. And also like usual, with someone of no consequence, Shai lost interest altogether.

"I hope dinner's soon," she sighed and wandered over to the mirror to preen.

"Oop, wait. He's being invited inside. A dinner guest?"

"If he is, he's got to be _somebody_…" Interest was trickling back into Shai's voice.

Ke Li turned back. "So what were you saying about some of the students coming to…" Her voice trailed off. Shai, seeing her cousin's wide-eyed, intense stare in the mirror, looked and followed her gaze out the other window. To Shai, the view was normal. As twilight loomed across the plots and monuments of the family graveyard, eerie shadows collected in pools between and around the main headstones. She was so used to seeing this that it didn't evoke any reaction.

Shai looked back at her cousin. "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Ke Li responded slowly, blinking. "Just thought I… nevermind. Let's go check out the guest."

"I do wish you'd do something about your hair," Shai fussed as they left the room. "It's so short… and floppy. You look like a boy off the street. Here, what if I—"

"Don't touch my hair!"

-----

Both cousins, though teenagers, acted like little girls, sneaking around trying to find the new guest, whispering and giggling to each other the whole time. Their twittering destroyed any element of surprise they could have possibly had, and Shai's curious younger brothers came to investigate, only to be shooed away.

Finally the two girls located the visitor talking to Uncle Choi in the grand library. Ke Li's uncle was obviously out to impress because he was in his best robes, the silk ones in the family colors of black and green, with the family crest on the back and a gold embroidered dragon snaking across the front around his legs. Ke Li hadn't seen him in awhile and was surprised by how large his beard had grown since last time, though still trimmed in the common Earth Kingdom style, and he had to be dying it to match his dark hair because she remembered him being grayer last time. Compared to him, the visitor looked youthful.

"He doesn't look like an earthbender," critiqued Ke Li as both she and Shai hovered in the furthest doorway. The man in question was taller than Choi, clean shaven and wearing an expression of utter seriousness. It must have been years since a smile had found its way onto his face. His hair was the most different of all: the sides of his head were shaved and all he had was a long black mohawk, pulled back into a thick ponytail that hung down past his shoulders.

"He looks like he's from one of the Water Nations," added Shai thoughtfully. "Because those aren't Earth Kingdom clothes." The clothing in question was in tones of green and brown, but the style looked like he had come from a climate much colder.

"And it's not like you've been outside the walls of Ba Sing Se to see what other people in our nation wear," Ke Li retorted. The two fell into silence as their attention locked fully on the stranger, until Shai poked her cousin.

"Wanna see if we can get introduced?"

"No!" cried Ke Li, starting. The two men inside the library looked in their direction and both girls immediately scampered off.

The dinner gong rang not too much later and the family and guests assembled. Shai's father and grandmother sat at opposite ends of the banquet table and Shai, mother, three younger brothers and Ke Li sat on the sides. The Water Tribe guest sat at Choi's right hand and Fong Du, who had run in right at the sound of the gong, sat on Choi's left.

The courses were brought in all at once and spaced along the table. Just as the last group of dishes was brought out, a couple of loud crashes came from the kitchen. Several servants went running out of the room to investigate. The visitor was halfway out of his seat.

"Oh, don't mind that," Shai's mother told him, trying to laugh. "That's been happening a bit lately. Our cooks are getting clumsy." The man sat back down.

"Everyone," Uncle Choi began after an authoritative clearing of his throat, "I would like to present Captain Tso… retired, as he tells me." Ke Li nearly flopped over on the table with glee.

"The King invited him back for a hero's welcome in front of the whole capital, but per my request, the captain came earlier and is to stay here until the national ceremonies. He'll be overseeing my students and teaching them some of his… unique bending." At that, Fong Du, who already wore an expression of blatant awe, seemed to choke on his own tongue. With delight, of course.

Ke Li gave a wide-eyed glance across the table in Shai's direction. Shai hid her smile in her drink.

The dinner was filled with Uncle Choi detailing to Tso his methods and best students, sometimes motioning to Fong Du, while relaying his graduates' excitement at the captain's visit. But Choi's family knew all that already. What they were interested in was Tso's stories, few as they were, about him earning his title of Captain at one of the earliest ages in Earth Kingdom history. He was stubbornly tight-lipped about his time during the occupation of the capital and events following.

When dinner was over, Choi invited Tso back to the library, where servants and the rest of the family would not bother them.

Ke Li was all giggles as she and her cousin returned to Shai's room, and it was all Shai could do to shush her.

"Mother doesn't approve of children being loud after dinner."

"Can you believe it?" Ke Li gasped for breath, utterly ignoring her cousin. "Captain Tso of the Earth Kingdom resistance is staying in this very house!" She crashed onto the bed, trying to contain a delighted squeal.

"Oh hush. You're not going to be like this every night, are you?" Shai moved over to her largest mirror and carefully began disassembling her hairdo.

"I don't know, really." Ke Li flopped onto her stomach and kicked her feet up and down over the edge of the bed. "I didn't think he'd be so cute! He can't be _that_ much older than us…" Shai immediately picked up on her cousin's tone and glanced over in time to see her scheming grin.

"No, don't _even_ think of about it. He's got to be at least— _at least_— a decade older."

Ke Li gave a playful scoff and watched Shai strategically untangle the decorative clips from her hair. "But you know… I _am_ almost of legal marrying age now…" One particularly shiny clip was thrown her way, sending her into another giggle fit. Shai began brushing her hair, frowning slightly.

"Why can't you take an interest in guys your own age? Like Fong Du. I think he looked _very_ handsome tonight." Ke Li just rolled her eyes.

Before Shai could carry on, there was a sharp scream from outside, somewhere below the side window. Ke Li bolted all the way downstairs and outside, joining a quickly multiplying group of bystanders. In the center was one of Uncle Choi's female students, Xou PengYin, being questioned by the head servant and Ke Li's aunt.

"It was a tall man, just appeared out of nowhere," the girl answered shakily. Shai's mother tried to put an arm around her shoulders in a comforting sort of way, but Ke Li recalled she had always been awkward at motherhood.

"And which way did the man go?" the servant asked. Other servants in the group were already banding up in search parties, joined by Shai's brothers and Fong Du.

"Well, h-he started to go that way…" Xou pointed east-ish, "but… he kind of disappeared." More awkward comfort pats.

"He must've slipped around the house," the head servant concluded with a nod, motioning to the closest group. "We'll—"

The girl pulled on his sleeve. "No, you don't understand. He literally _disappeared_. Into thin air!" The patting stopped. The outside atmosphere seemed to grow thicker, and Ke Li, along with a few others, began cautiously glancing about, suddenly much more aware of the surroundings. It was then Ke Li realized her Uncle Choi and Captain Tso stood not too far behind her.

"Now really, Xou PengYin…" Shai's mother began, but Choi cut her off.

"Move fast, people," he announced as he approached the center of the group. "Some of you check the training grounds, others patrol the house. You three, patrol the perimeter and make sure the gate is locked. Captain Tso, if you wouldn't mind helping me…" The servants and Shai's brothers immediately split into their assigned groups and Ke Li nearly jumped out of Tso's way, watching intently as he followed Choi.

Fong Du ran after them. "What about me, Sifu?"

"Go in the house with the women. Keep them safe," was the reply. Du's shoulders dropped but he did as instructed, escorting the three women inside and standing guard at the door all too self-importantly. Shai's mother handed PengYin off to her sons' nurse and retired to her own quarters. The nurse led the girl bender into the kitchen, no doubt to give her some tea, and Ke Li headed for the stairs.

"Wait!" Fong Du called after her as she reached the bottom step. She turned back slightly, poorly hiding her disinterest. "Where are you all going? I… I've got to keep an eye on everyone."

Ke Li waved a sleeve. "You're doing great right as you are, Du. Keep it up. I'll be upstairs if you need me." She began her ascent.

"You're the one who needs _me_. I'm the bender. Sifu Choi put me in charge—"

"Right, right, yeah. If I see some earth that needs moved, I'll call you."

Ke Li hurried the rest of the way up the stairs and down corridors to Shai's room. Her younger cousin was already in her night gown and braiding her hair for sleep.

"Fong Du is so _full of himself_!" Ke Li hissed, ruffling her hands through her already messy hair. She plopped down on Pillow Mountain to seethe.

"That's always your complaint about him," sighed her cousin, not taking her eyes off her own reflection. "So, what was the commotion outside?"

"One of the girl students… Xou PengYin? apparently saw a ghost out there." Ke Li was too busy inspecting her sleeve to see that Shai had dropped her unfinished braid and was staring wide-eyed at her cousin's reflection.

"What… what'd everyone do?"

"Your dad had everyone form search parties to hunt it, I guess. And Captain Tso _totally_ brushed this sleeve as he walked by. I'm not kidding," Ke Li giggled. She held her arm up high and let the long sleeve dangle, entertaining herself with swishing it back and forth. "I'll never wash this dress _ever_ again." Shai turned in her seat to look at Ke Li.

"I never expected that to happen," she mumbled, half to herself. When Ke Li glanced up at her, Shai hurried over and kneeled at her side.

"Mother didn't want me telling anyone, and Father's been keeping it quiet, too…" she clenched her cousin's hands. "But maybe because Captain Tso's here, he's changed his mind…"

"Shai," Ke Li began slowly, "what's going on?"

Shai's voice dropped to a whisper. "For a couple weeks now, strange things have been happening. Those loud noises from the kitchen? Those weren't caused by the servants. Things have been moving on their own recently, mostly in the kitchen, but also in Father's study and in the stables. A couple days ago as one of the cleaning women was opening windows in the morning, she heard a voice right outside in front of her, but no one was there… and she was on the third floor." She paused and looked around as if her mother would suddenly appear to scold her. "We don't know what's going on, but it's only been getting worse. At first we just thought our ancestors were restless, but now we see that these… ghosts… aren't so friendly."

Ke Li stared for the longest time at a cousin whom she had never seen so serious. "Shai, ghosts aren't—"

"Don't _even_ say they don't exist!" she nearly snapped. "Xou PengYin saw one, you said."

"_She_ said," corrected Ke Li. She pulled her hands free of Shai's grasp and massaged them comfortingly, pouting some.

"If things have been happening for so long, why haven't you guys asked for help?" Ke Li's tone was much more critical than she intended. "Ba Sing Se has some of the best shamans in all the Earth Kingdom."

Shai sat on the floor and hugged her knees, "And what happens when word gets out that Master Choi called the best shamans to his house and training facilities?" Ke Li silently tended to her hands, casting a sympathetic frown her cousin's way.

"I know our world and the spirit world should be in balance," Shai continued, a pout of her own growing, "but you should know that if you want to be a good bender around here, you need to look like you're in control of everything. Even the spirits."

"I know," sighed Ke Li sadly.

"Father can't lose his livelihood… but it's getting scary around here." Ke Li crawled over and threw her arms around her cousin.

"Maybe Captain Tso will help with this," she said hopefully. "Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"Nothing he does is _not_ amazing to you," replied Shai, attempting to laugh.

"Well, yeah, when you compare him to a moron like Fong Du. Did I tell you what he said to me? I didn't, did I? I seriously hope Captain Tso puts the smack down on Du, because listen to what he told me…"

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**a.n.** And that is the first chapter. Impressions? Concerns? Complaints? And yes, I am a fan of Ghost Hunters. x3;

Happy (Chinese) New Year!


	2. Down a Peg

**Chapter 2**

The next day was cheerier for everyone, especially Ke Li due to the beginning of the graduating students' final tests. It was a week-long event, culminating in one-on-one sparring, which was open to the public. Everything up until then would take place inside the Choi training grounds where Ke Li could easily watch them. She could hardly put her unimaginable delight into words, though she tried. Shai was annoyed by how much she tried.

Ke Li utterly surprised her cousin when she showed up outside that morning in an outfit that could almost pass as a dress and her hair looking like she at least attempted brushing it.

"When's Xue got his trials?" Ke Li asked as they sat under a tree at the edge of the training field watching the whole class stretch.

"Same as the other seniors… this afternoon." Shai was much less impressed with all the bending since she had to put up with seeing it out the windows every day.

"I can't believe they let you get away with calling them by their first names… him and Fong Du," she added, twirling her bamboo parasol slowly. Ke Li didn't understand why she needed that thing when they were in the shade anyway.

"Me neither," she snickered, flopping onto her stomach to watch the benders better. "But I've done it for how many years now? It's just normal."

"It's not proper," Shai responded with an emphatic twirl of the parasol. "They're leaving school this year and you're not far from becoming an adult."

"Scary, isn't it?" mumbled Ke Li distractedly. The students added shouting to their warm up routines and Shai had to raise her voice to compete.

"I'm serious, Ke. You really ought to be thinking about your future. Not ogling over benders like this."

A grin creased Ke Li's face and she called over her shoulder, "You sound too much like your mother."

"_Your_ mother should be saying this, too. After all, she kno—oh." Shai's voice immediately dropped and she took interest in her parasol handle as Ke Li spun around onto her knees. Her stern gaze locked onto Shai.

"Whatchu sayin' 'bout mah mama? What's she know?"

The younger cousin, suddenly mute, just shrugged her shoulders, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Ke Li edged closer, painfully aware that the students had stopped their stretching and were actually bending now.

"We're in the same family, and yet you along with the adults always seem to know the important stuff ages before I even get a hint about it," she said. "So I want you to tell me right now… what does my mom and everyone else know that I don't?"

Shai scrunched up her shoulders. "They're going to tell you anyway… after the tests are over this week." She continued to avoid looking at Ke Li and the older cousin fell on her backside, facing the students again. She leisurely crossed her ankles.

"Hm. Is it important?" she asked in a lighthearted tone that sounded close to indifferent. No matter how many times Ke Li had tried this tactic throughout the years to draw Shai out, it always worked.

"Very," squeaked her cousin.

"Life-altering?" Ke Li continued, half in a chuckle.

"Yes." Shai bunched up further and turned the parasol to hide her form her cousin's stare.

"What, they're not marrying me off, are they?" Another comment almost in passing accompanied by a laugh. This time Shai didn't reply. Ke Li gave her the usual half-minute of calm silence before prompting, "Choi Shai…"

The parasol rolled around to separate them completely. Ke Li sat up and yanked the bamboo barrier out of Shai's hands and tossed it onto the field. "You tell me what's going on!"

Shai gave a little scream and brought her arms up defensively. "It's just something I overheard when your father was over— they're arranging your marriage, most likely with one of the graduating benders. Don't kill me!"

It took a few moments for this to fully sink in, but when it did, Ke Li fell back limply, staring blankly into space. Her cousin gave her a brave, experimental poke to the arm.

"It can't be that bad," she began comfortingly. "I mean you praise the seniors nearly as much as Father does…. And besides, you _do_ keep mentioning that you're close to the marrying age."

"As a joke!" Ke Li retorted, her voice slowly growing stronger. "I never actually _wanted_ to be married off the day I turn seventeen!" A whine crept into her tone. "I can't believe they'd do this to me… I don't want to be married! How long have you known?"

"Oh… uh, about a couple months or so…" Shai assumed her most pitiful pouting expression. Ke Li nearly backhanded her.

"Some cousin you are!" she screeched indignantly.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd get like this!" cried the girl defensively. Ke Li just pointed to the house.

"Go to your room!" There was a brief pause.

"…What?! You can't do—"

"_Go_ to your room _now_!" hissed Ke Li. Shai vented a huff before standing and marching over to retrieve her parasol before returning to the house.

Ke Li rested her chin on her knees to contemplate and brood. Only as she calmed down did she remember the students on the field, finishing their bending warm-ups. Ke Li's eyes locked onto them, all the children grouped in their classes from youngest to seniors, all moving small piles of earth to and fro, turning it to rock or mud and back again. If only Ke Li had that power.

_If I were a bender, would they be arranging my future like this? Arranged marriages are for daughters where are a burden,_ Ke Li realized. _If I could bend, I wouldn't have this problem._

But it wasn't like Ke Li's family was destitute. They had a very comfortable lifestyle with a few servants of their own, though their property did not even compare with the Choi's. Still, they were not so deprived that they needed their only daughter— their only child— married off as early as possible.

Her plagued thoughts were interrupted when Uncle Choi called for his students' attention.

"Everyone," he began halfway across the field from Ke Li as he walked through the ranks of benders, "I have a special surprise for all of you. This morning, and every morning through testing week, you will all be taught by the retired Captain Tso, who has agreed to share some of his unique bending moves." The last part of Choi's announcement was utterly lost to the cheers that erupted at the mention of the Captain's name. It only grew worse when Tso himself stepped into view on the field, following Choi's earlier path through the benders. The students immediately forgot their ranks and seemed to leap as one onto and around Tso until Choi's orders for them to stand down were finally heard above all the commotion.

Ke Li even cracked a girly smile, hugging her knees closer, all previous troubling thoughts utterly vanishing. If she were a bender, _she_ would be out there right now, right next to Tso. Ke Li had to laugh at how uncomfortable he looked being ambushed. But that was okay— she didn't care for mobs of children, either.

For the rest of the morning, Tso stood in front of the assembled classes, teaching them different stances and his own perfected routines and Choi and the students mimicked. The lunch gong rang all too soon. Children scurried inside the nearest building for their boxed meals, leaving the two teachers on the field to talk.

Yan Xue and two other seniors returned outside to eat their lunches with Ke Li. One of the first things they asked was, "Where's Shai?"

Ke Li shrugged. "Inside. Hiding, probably." And the students promptly steered the discussion to Tso.

"These are the coolest moves I've ever learned," Xue gushed. "Think I can use some in my trials today?" Another senior elbowed him.

"You've already been called on your improv style once this week—"

"And Tso's whole style is _completely_ improv," argued Xue with a huge grin. "It almost doesn't feel like earthbending."

Ke Li wore a smile to match, leaning forward excitedly. "I couldn't see too well from back here, but how impressive were his demonstrations? I couldn't believe I didn't feel any quakes." The seniors exchanged glances.

"Come to think of it, he just showed us his routine," a senior girl replied. "He didn't really bend himself."

"Yeah," Xue agreed. "It was more like we did his moves and saw what kind of bending it made." Ke Li tilted her head, pondering.

"Here's lunch," a soft voice from behind spoke up. Ke Li turned to see her cousin there, holding two lunch plates, looking harassed. "Mother wanted me to bring this out to you." Shai handed one plate over then sat with a senior between the both of them.

"So, Xue," piped up Ke Li after a mouthful of rice, "are you excited about being one of the first ones today?"

Xue shrugged. "Right now I just want to get my tests over with. More time to study from Tso the rest of the week."

"Who's all got their trials today?" another senior asked.

"Hopefully not you," snickered the girl bender.

"I know not me," he retorted. "I go Thursday."

"Tough break," Xue added with a playful, haughty smile. "Today's me, Fong Du, Xou PengYin, and… that guy with the funny stance…"

"Kurt," everyone else in the group supplied.

"Right, sorry."

"Xou PengYin?" the girl bender repeated. "So even after her ghost sighting last night they're letting her bend?"

"What, should she be at home resting?" Xue asked almost mockingly.

"Locked up for being crazy's more like it," she retorted. "Ghosts are for festival stories and farmer's tales. Things like that just don't happen in a modern city like ours."

"Now that you mentioned it," another male bender spoke up, "she wasn't there this morning."

"Maybe she's just taking it easy after last night," Shai said indifferently, though Ke Li could tell from the bob of her head that she was annoyed.

"Taking it easy?" squawked the girl. "She made the whole thing up!" She turned to Xue. "_You_ know how much she loves to be the center of attention. She's done some pretty unbelievable things before, but this is the worst."

Xue boxed up his empty lunch set. "When Xou PengYin's wanted attention in the past, she's bragged about her bending skills."

"Skills? I'm surprised she's even graduating," twittered the girl.

"But this time," Xue continued undaunted, "is the first time she's made any kind of claim about seeing a spirit. She wouldn't pull something like this for attention." As he began to get up, the girl called after him, "Don't tell me you believe her." Her tone threatened to ridicule him.

"I don't know if I believe her," he said calmly. "I just know I can't deride her about it." At his nod to the boy between Ke Li and Shai, the student stood up and followed, his own lunch finished as well. Xue bowed his head slightly to the cousins. "Ladies," he said in farewell.

The girl bender gave a huff before shoveling the rest of her lunch down and running after the boys.

"Can you believe her?" Ke Li almost growled. "Like Xue couldn't see what she was doing." She furiously ate her own remaining rice.

"It was noble of Yan Xue to defend Xou like that," added Shai, picking at her lunch.

"Seriously. I'd have just whomped her with bending if I were him." Ke Li gave an unladylike snort as she gazed across the field. Only Choi remained; Tso must have returned to the house during their whole conversation. Just then her head snapped around as she finally realized it was only her and Shai there. "Oh… I'm surprised you're talking to me already. Usually it's two and a half hours before you even acknowledge me again."

"It's been more like three," Shai admitted. "And there's nothing better to do inside the house."

Ke Li wisely did not broach the sore subject again. "So do _you_ believe PengYin?"

"I do. And pretty soon someone else will see another one," Shai stated simply. Ke Li shivered.

"So definitive…"

"Things can only get worse."

Ke Li put down her plate to stare at her cousin. "Someone must have insulted your fashion because you are _not_ happy today." Shai gave a bashful pout.

"I don't mean it menacingly," she almost whined. After a pause she spoke up in a perkier tone. "But I did try something different today. My hair pin's yellow while my whole outfit's green. Makes it pop." And it did. The decorative yellow crescent adorning her large bun did not at all match her normal clothes. Before Shai called attention to it, Ke Li hadn't even noticed it.

"Aw, that's really cute," she lied. Luckily, before Shai could call her on it, four seniors filed onto the training field at the sound of the battle gong to stand before Choi. They bowed low at the waist. Choi bobbed his head.

Ke Li feverishly slapped Shai's leg. "It's starting, it's starting! Look, there's Xue!" Shai pushed her cousin's hand away and, because she knew it was about to come right back, she gave Ke Li's shoulder a hard enough shove to tip her over. Ke Li popped up, oblivious.

First Fong Du stepped forward and the other students retreated to kneel at the edge of the field. Du ran through a slow, almost meditative routine lasting about five minutes. All his moves were so deliberate that it seemed like he was telling a symbolic story through bending. For once Ke Li watched his demonstration without criticism. The last half of his trials was a one-on-one match against Choi. Ke Li leaned so far forward that her chin nearly touched the ground as she watched them bow again to each other, this time Choi bowing as low as Fong Du. They began circling.

Shai tugged on her cousin's sleeve, then harder.

"I know, I'm watching!" Ke Li breathed softly, wide-eyed. Shai tugged even harder and Ke Li sat up, nearly scowling. Shai, her face blank and drained of all color, just stared past her cousin and she pointed with her free hand in the same direction. Ke Li looked.

There, by her discarded plate, was something moving. It was practically transparent, but the way the light bent around it they could make out it was a large shape— their size if not bigger. It made no sound and hovered predatorily over the plate. Only when a piece of food was lifted into the air did Shai lose it. She uttered the most piercing shriek Ke Li had ever heard before jumping up, pulling her cousin with her, and running for the house. Rather, she hurried for the house because her dress was not made for running. Ke Li was all too glad to follow her. She could watch the bending match from the house if it meant being safe from ghosts.

The cousins' morning drama hadn't disturbed anyone else. The current drama stopped the bending trial in its tracks; Fong Du fell into the muddy wave he was riding, which quickly swelled back into the ground, and Choi's defensive wall crashed down. All those on or around the field watched the two girls flee inside, thankful that the walls muffled the screaming.

Inside, the nearest servants ran over, followed by Shai's mother and siblings from other rooms. Somewhere along the line, her grandmother made it in for the story as well. In shaky puffs, Shai tried to describe what she saw, Ke Li assisting every once in awhile as her irregular breathing permitted. When they finally got the gist of their point across, a group of servants hurried outside to confirm the scene in question. Others led the girls to floor pillows to sit on, Shai's mother at their heels.

"Now honey, are you sure the heat isn't getting to you?" she asked in a pleading sort of way. "You weren't using your parasol out there, were you?"

"It wasn't the heat, Aunt Choi, I saw it too," wheezed Ke Li. A couple kitchen workers snuck in between them to give them cups of water and tea before slipping away just as stealthily.

"Mother, you can't keep denying it…" Shai breathed in a genuinely pleading tone. The woman waved the comment away and whisked off to check on the servants outside. Shai's brothers watched the girls.

"Is it true, sister?" the oldest asked. "Are we haunted?"

"I don't know…. I hope not." Ke Li sipped her water sullenly, the bending trials the furthest thing from her mind when she looked up and saw Captain Tso half hidden in the doorway. However, the grandmother commanded the attention now that most others had gone.

"Aren't you children taught anything about ancestor worship or the old traditions anymore?" she croaked, hobbling forward with the help of her carved cane. All children immediately silenced and watched her, afraid to answer.

"Things like this happen when you neglect your deceased family. How long has it been since we offered food or money at their graves?" she motioned vaguely in the direction of the cemetery. The two younger brothers, visibly scared, rushed off into the kitchen and those remaining in the sitting room could hear them rustling through cupboards and shelves.

"Zumu," Shai spoke up softly, "why would the ancestors be scaring their own family like this if they really do just want offerings?"

"To teach you little ingrates a lesson," she nearly barked, thumping her cane on the floor a couple times for emphasis. "Why else?"

Ke Li turned to look out the window to watch the trials. A new bender with a strange stance was now demonstrating his routine, so it must have been Kurt. The talk on ancestors, though interesting with Shai's remaining brother jumping in as well, faded into the background for Ke Li. Soon, so did Kurt's bending. Her gaze slowly crept back to the doorway where she glanced Tso halfway up the stairs.

The girl put down her water cup and slowly stood, tiptoeing out of the conversation that had utterly absorbed the two generations of family and crept for the main staircase. Tso was on the second floor and watching out the large window overlooking the front of the house and the training field further off.

Ke Li didn't know why she wanted to get closer to him, but before she knew it she was climbing the stairs. She racked her brain for something to actually say to him or else it would be an awkward waste of his time. He was a famous war hero and she was just a girl who happened to be related to the Choi family. While she was in the midst of coming up with a reason to be in Tso's presence, Ke Li found herself standing next to him, staring out the window at the field. She could feel his gaze from the corner of his eye. It was a mixture of slight curiosity with disapproval.

Ke Li just swallowed her pride, embarrassment, and some of her sanity, and flashed a grin up at the Captain. "Hello! Great day, huh?" Her smile faltered when Tso looked right at her. She just barely came up to his shoulder and it was utterly impossible for him to not look down his nose at her.

He gave a guttural sound of agreement. "Wonderful." Tso directed his gaze back on the trials. Ke Li fidgeted with a handful of fabric.

"I'm Choi's neice, by the way," she introduced, her smile fighting to return. "Ming Ke Li. But you can call me Ke Li."

Another grunt as his focus remained on the benders. "I remember you were at dinner last night." It sounded like a confirmation to end the conversation. However, if Ke Li let it end there, she really _would_ have been wasting his time.

"I'm here all week, too, and I can't wait to see more of your bending. I really love your unique style… so do a lot of the students," she threw in quickly.

If Tso was even flattered in the least bit, he didn't show it.

"Will you be participating in the sparring at the end of trials week?" Ke Li continued.

"No. I'll be gone before then," he replied crisply. Ke Li's smile threatened to desert.

"You're not hurrying off because of the talk of ghosts, are you?" Her eyes remained completely on him while his never strayed from the training field.

"Didn't you just see one?" Tso countered. Ke Li hesitated before shrugging evasively.

"I don't know what I saw."

"You don't understand what you see right in front of your face but yet you want to see my bending from fifty yards away?"

Ke Li sputtered a little, balking. "E… excuse me?" For once Tso looked at her when he spoke.

"Either you really are incapable of processing what goes on before your eyes or you just lack the integrity to speak the truth of what you see."

The Captain turned and began walking back for the stairs.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Captain Tso?" Ke Li called after him, a hard expression suppressing any will to smile.

"Don't you?" he threw back over his shoulder. The girl glanced out the window to the tree where she had been sitting under earlier; a few servants were now inspecting the plate, Shai's mother was hovering close to them. Ke Li looked back.

"Do you think we're haunted?" That made Tso stop at the first step and match her gaze. For the longest moment he didn't say anything.

"Haunted? You would _know_ if this place was haunted. Use your eyes more." And he descended the stairs, leaving Ke Li to the whole view of the benders on the field.


	3. Shamanistic Exorcism

**Chapter 3**

Ke Li unrolled the spare futon next to Shai's bed, heaping it with blankets. The servants had long since stopped offering her a guest room during her visits; it was tradition for her to stay in Shai's room. Her cousin came in from washing up, slowly combing her damp hair.

"There you are. You disappeared before dessert," Shai commented. She took a seat in front of her mirror and watched Ke Li flop onto the futon.

"It's been a long day," she sighed. "What'd your dad have to say after dinner?"

"He asked me the same questions as everyone else. He also said we can't keep quiet, we'll have to watch the rest of the trials from inside."

Ke Li's head shot up and she stifled a gasp. "_You_ were the one screaming, not me!" Shai ignored her and focused on combing her hair.

"Anyway, Father's in the library again, talking to Zumu. I think Captain Tso's with them."

Ke Li's head dropped onto her pillow and she gave a grunt. Shai moved on to braiding her hair. "Where's all your enthusiasm gone to?" She half sounded like she cared.

"It's over there, hiding in the corner…" Ke Li lifted an arm to wave vaguely in some direction, "along with my pride." Shai waited until she had tied the ribbon just right before coming over and crawling onto her bed to stare at Ke Li from over the edge.

"What happened to you?"

"I got the bright idea to talk to Captain Tso."

Stunned silence. Followed by scandalous curiosity. "No _way!_ What did you say? Where did you talk to him?"

"It was by the second story front window… and I said all the wrong things." Ke Li let her arm flop across her face in embarrassment and Shai giggled.

"No, really," whined the older cousin. "Tso kinda yelled at me for not saying I saw a ghost today."

"Does this mean he's no longer your crush?"

Ke Li removed her arm and stared at Shai with a sly grin she only half suppressed.

"Didn't say that. He's unbelievably cute when he's mad, too. But it's just weird that Tso of all people would scold me for something like this when it's none of his business."

Shai nodded understandingly. "But I think Father's making it his business. Anymore they—" Shai was interrupted by a small crash coming from outside. Both girls got up and rushed over to the side window and peered into the darkness. They could just make out a couple figures moving along the edge of the cemetery. Shai leaned halfway out the window.

"Lu, _what_ are you doing?" she cried. "Get in the house now!" Two of her younger brothers made a dash for the house like children caught doing something punishable.

"That's the second time today they've tried to offer food out there," Shai mumbled with a _tsk_. She returned to the bed but Ke Li remained at the window, watching the cemetery.

"If it helps, it helps," she sighed, mostly to herself. Shai almost choked on an unexpected laugh.

"So you believe in our ghosts now?" she asked incredulously, leaning so far off her bed she nearly fell out. When Ke Li didn't reply, Shai anchored herself better. "Maybe Captain Tso will also make you see how desperately you need to do something with that boyish hair cut…"

At that, Ke Li bounded for the bed, pouncing on Shai while uttering her war cry and grabbing the closest pillow.

-----

The next morning Shai was woken up bright and early and dragged down to breakfast by a perky Ke Li.

"Ke, the student trials don't begin for another few hours," yawned the younger cousin, groggily blinking. So far they were the only two at the breakfast table, but the food had already been laid out and the sleepy voices of other family members were heard nearby.

"Mornings are exciting," was Ke Li's chipper response.

Moments later the three younger brothers zipped in, loaded their arms with food, and departed just as fast toward the kitchen and side door. Shai huffed.

"They took all the biscuits, little brats!"

"Honey," sighed Shai's mother, who just sleepily glided in, "you know young ladies shouldn't raise their voices until after breakfast."

"Sorry, mother."

Just as the woman had seated herself, Uncle Choi hurried in, Captain Tso stopping in the doorway. "Dearest, come to the library for a moment…"

Shai and Ke Li exchanged glances at Choi's serious expression and Shai's mother quickly stood to follow her husband.

"Do you think something else has happened?" Ke Li whispered once they were alone at the breakfast table again. She glanced around her, "Although come to think of it, I _haven't_ seen barely any of your millions of servants around here today…"

"It's not even nine in the morning yet," pouted the younger cousin, ignoring the servants quip. "But it has to be something serious if they're going to the library."

Ke Li bustled to get as many dessert puffs onto her plate as possible before standing, nodding for Shai to follow. "You've still got that one hole in the wall, right? Or has it been fixed by now?" She cradled her plate of sweets protectively and nibbled on one.

"Mother and Father still don't know about it… they'd kill me!" Shai seemed hesitant, but followed nevertheless.

Years ago Ke Li and Shai had wanted to spy on the goings on in the library, so they decided to make a peephole right through the wall. More specifically, Ke Li did. She carved a sizeable hole with a cook's knife at eye-level for their child-sized convenience into the least-used wall. On the library side, it was a wall of ancestral portraits and hanging scrolls no one really glanced at; on the outside it was a hallway leading to the servant's staircase.

Now Ke Li easily found it, only covered in the hallway by a potted plant on a pedestal. She snickered, "I love your servants."

"I think a wall scroll's hanging on the other side," Shai said as her cousin handed off the plate and was readying to push the thick pedestal aside.

Ke Li straightened. "Thanks for the heads up." And she reclaimed her plate. Instead, the girls sat against the wall on either side of the plant and listened as best they could.

"Dear, Gil-dong is the best shaman in Ba Sing Se," they heard Choi say, his voice carrying a tone.

"No shamans! Think of what the neighbors will say!" she cried.

"Think of our own family!" Choi replied sternly. "This is getting out of hand. The small stable was nearly demolished— have you seen it? That couldn't have been done by human vandals."

Ke Li stopped mid-puff to glance around the pedestal at Shai. She was staring back with a similarly confused expression.

"There is nothing we can do to pacify the spirits anymore," Zumu's voice cracked slowly. "We need a shaman's intervention."

"We have two world-renowned benders right here," the mother snipped, "can't either of you put a stop to this?"

"Fight my own ancestors?" questioned Choi almost accusingly.

"If they really wanted to stay in your good graces, they wouldn't be scaring our household or destroying our property."

"No," came Zumu's sharp interruption, punctuated by a pounding of her cane on the floor. "It is our family that has fallen from _their_ good graces. We have angered them and this is our retribution! We need a shaman to mediate for us, since the ancestors will no longer be appeased."

Shai slid her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs. Ke Li crawled over to wrap an arm around her shoulders comfortingly, offering her the last cream puff. They heard Shai's mother scoff.

"And you, Captain, what do _you_ think about all this?" A long pause followed, where Ke Li's ears perked sharply.

A soothing voice replied, "How much more would the neighbors talk if one by one buildings began being destroyed on your land and the Choi family could do nothing to stop it?"

"The stables were practically gutted in one night alone," Choi added quickly.

"Just the secondary stables," corrected his wife. It sounded like she was pouting. The girls heard Zumu thump her cane with authority.

"These are the Choi ancestors, and Choi will have the final decision." Nobody spoke; no utterance of any kind came from Shai's mother.

Just when Ke Li felt she couldn't listen any more closely, one of the main servants came down the hall as silently as servants should and nearly startled both girls by his seemingly sudden appearance.

"You shouldn't be all the way over here," he reprimanded lightly with a wave of his hands in a shooing fashion.

The servant wouldn't budge until both girls retreated downstairs. They ended up in the dining room and Ke Li immediately scoured the table for more puffs, giving a disappointed _tsk_ after a fruitless search.

"I think your brothers raided breakfast again." Shai flopped into the nearest chair in a way that would have appalled her mother.

"We're ruined if the shamans come," she sighed hopelessly.

"Well, it _is_ for your safety. I mean, it's not the end of the world if the neighbors chatter," chirped her cousin.

"But it'll tarnish our face," Shai responded emphatically. "How did we get to be so unlucky?" Ke Li propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands, looking thoughtful.

"You're sounding more and more like your mom." Their attention was captured by the family messenger sprinting down the main stairs and past the dining room on his way to the front door. Ke Li figured he was bearing the invitation to the shaman, and began thinking of a way to cheer up her cousin, who looked like she was starting to turn a sickly color.

"Hey, I know!" grinned Ke Li, "wanna go check out the stables and see what all the fuss is about?"

Shai stood, feeling her forehead. "Actually, I think I'm going to lie down for a bit…" She pretended not to hear her cousin's complaints of disappointment and glided out, passing and acknowledging Zumu in the doorway. The grandmother found her chair and climbed onto it, looking important.

"G'morning, Zumu," smiled Ke Li cheerily. "Where is everyone?"

The woman snorted and did not let any chit chat interrupt her quest to fill her plate. "The boys haven't left the cemetery since this whole kafuffle began, Choi and the Captain are in the library, and his wife went to go lie down, she said."

Ke Li echoed Zumu's snort, shaking her head and muttering, "Women."

"I hear ya, kid," sighed Zumu."

The girl soon left the table to explore the outside stables and found half the bending students gathered in front watching an army of workers tearing the remains down. Most of the other students were keeping themselves entertained by trying to get close to the displaced komodo horses.

Ke Li searched the faces for Yan Xue, but it was Fong Du that she found first, as he approached from the front of the group. The girl was beginning to think her family really _was_ unlucky.

"Ming Ke Li, did you watch the trials yesterday?" he began pleasantly, albeit stiffly. Du had always been socially awkward, she remembered. The girl continued glancing around and her reply confirmed her distraction.

"Uh huh… it's what I'm here for. Have you seen Xue?"

"Oh, I haven't looked for him," Du answered with a twitchy shrug. "He'll probably be here when the lesson starts. Since his trial is over with as well, he doesn't _have_ to come any more this week, but I doubt any of the finished seniors will stay away with Captain Tso here."

Ke Li glanced at him to note how pleased he looked to be stating the obvious. He prattled on about how the Captain had complimented him on his bending technique, which the girl, when half-listening, found hard to believe.

"You are the most by-the-book earthbender I have ever seen," Ke Li finally told him, which made him smile to her disappointment. "And Captain Tso is the complete opposite… what exactly did he say?"

Du puffed his chest out a little more. "He said my style looks like the instruction scroll personified."

Ke Li couldn't stop a little giggle from escaping. That sounded like something _she_ would say when she wanted to insult him. When the girl realized he was waiting for a positive reaction, she managed to force out, "Wow… exciting." And with a poor excuse to be somewhere else, she hurried back toward the house.

_It'd be just my bad luck to get married off to him,_ Ke Li almost snarled to herself. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and noticed Tso standing at the second floor window again. Ke Li's gaze dropped as her recollection of their only encounter stung through her head. She wasn't used to being scolded and she certainly didn't like it. And she usually confronted whatever she didn't like.

Barging through the front doors, Ke Li raced up the main staircase. She skidded to a halt at the top. A deep breath for courage.

"Captain?"

He actually turned, but upon seeing his addressor, returned his attention to the scene outside. A prompting grunt was his only reply.

"What happened to the stables?" Ke Li slowly neared.

"Choi's workers are tearing it down to rebuild it," he stated simply. The girl stopped several paces behind him, her gaze on the ground

"What happened to make them have to tear it down?"

At that Tso looked back at her, his expression showing a slightly curious humor. "I don't think I can explain it in terms a non-believer like you could understand." Ke Li slowly raised her eyes from his feet. His tone today was not scolding or condescending. It sounded like he was joking with her. The girl couldn't tell if he was teasing due to his straight face, but decided she would test it. An experimental step forward.

"That all depends on your quality of explanation," Ke Li replied humbly. His arched brow pushed her to add, "I just might believe you if you present it convincingly enough."

Tso took a step back from the window and gestured toward the half-demolished stables. "This property is plagued." Outside the students formed rows on the training field and began their stretching exercises.

"Haunted?" asked Ke Li, still not quite looking Tso in the eye. He shook his head.

"Not quite. But without intervention it will be." He fell silent and the girl did not speak for nearly another minute.

"You sound as thought you've experienced it first hand."

A stalling cough from Tso before, "I'll be needed on the field shortly. Good day to you, Ming." He gave a bob of his head reminiscent of an officer's salute to a civilian and headed for the stairs.

"You can call me Ke Li, Captain," she threw over her shoulder.

"Then don't call me Captain; I'm retired," he replied, thumping down the stairs. The girl waited until she saw him walking outside toward the field before squealing into her hands and tearing off for her cousin's room.

That night at the start of the last animal hour, the Choi family and relatives gathered outside the cemetery as Gil-Dong instructed. He was a man well into his years, his white hair and beard streaked with gray. He was also well compensated as apparent by his expensive clothes— high quality and in the special colors of shamans.

A large fire was lit at the east entrance to the graveyard with the family on one side ad the shaman on the other, closest to the cemetery. The household watched silently, kneeled, even the young boys, as Gil-Dong offered at the entranceway ornate dishes with some of the most expensive and traditional food Ba Sing Se had. He recited chants and prayers in an archaic language and Ke Li had to wonder if he even understood what he was saying.

Next the shaman took an intricately carved staff with long strips of folded, intertwining paper showering from the top and flicked it with authority in each of the four directions. Then he assaulted the entranceway with it accompanied by more chanting. The family stared on, fixated, watching a sight none had ever seen, not even Zumu. As the archaic chanting escalated, so did the ferocity of the fire. With each swing of the paper-topped staff, the the highest flames darted this way and that as if in response. Those closest to the fire nonchalantly edged away.

Finally his shouting stopped and his staff-waving ceased. The Chois watched him expectantly; Gil-Dong returned to the fire and motioned for the grandmother to come closer.

"There needs to be a representative to speak to the spirits on behalf of the family," he informed the attentive group. Zumu hobbled over and kneeled next to the shaman, halfway between the fire and the cemetery.

For the next half hour, the grandmother explained how the family wanted to be left alone and if they had offended the deceased, they were truly sorry. What took so long was the shaman stopped her every few sentences to translate her sentiments into his archaic language. Sometimes he would beak out into more trance-like chants, stick waving.

By the end, Gil-Dong had the entire family get to their knees and kowtow.

"And that concludes the ceremony," announced the shaman as he presented the paper-topped stick to Choi. "The spirits have heard your pleas. I do not think you will be plagued anymore." Choi bowed his head low when he received the token. Gil-Dong extinguished the large fire with a handful of purple dust that left a sweet smell drifting into the night, overpowering the smoke. He was given a komodo-horse carriage ride home and the family headed into the house for bed. Shai's mother handed her wound-up sons over to their nurse for her to put to bed and she instantly went for a bath.

Ke Li immediately, hopefully, glanced into the dining room as she passed, but found the table clear of any food. However, at the farthest end on the side sat Tso, reading a scroll by candlelight.

"Why wasn't the captain invited outside?" she asked her cousin. As they headed up the stairs, they noticed Choi entering the dining room and Tso dropping the scroll.

"He's not family," responded Shai. "And Zumu said that ceremony was only for blood relations."

"Your dad's really involving him in every other way, though."

"I hope it helps," sighed the younger cousin.

-----

For the next few days, the family commented on how calm it was. There were no rattlings in the kitchen, no apparitions, and no more property destroyed. Even Shai's mother admitted that summoning the shaman was a good idea. The senior bending trials continued in peace with Ke Li sitting at the edge of the field watching closely.

On the last day of the trials, Shai sat with her fixated cousin.

"So, I guess the captain leaves pretty soon," she spoke up. The whole class was on the field warming up, waiting for Tso.

"Yeah, I'm trying not to think about it," muttered Ke Li with a pout. Shai observed her older cousin carefully.

"Good, I was fearing you were planning on trying to leave with him. Truthfully, I wouldn't put it past you."

Ke Li couldn't help grinning. "That flatters me. I wish I'd have thought of that." She giggled when Shai folded her arms, glaring.

"I hope you're joking."

"Look, Tso's coming out!" And Ke Li proceeded to ignore her cousin through the rest of the lessons and subsequent trials. Once all the bending was done, Ke Li slipped away from Shai undetected and slinked through groups of chatting students, most surrounding Tso and pelting him with awe-filled stares and shy questions.

Yan Xue was talking with Choi and another student as the girl approached. Her uncle acknowledged her with a head bob.

"There's my niece. How have you liked these final tests?"

"Very well," she smiled politely, sneaking a glance at Xue none-too-subtly. "Everyone's routine was fantastic. Tomorrow's performances should be great."

Choi clapped a hand on Xue's shoulder. "And what about you, boy? Are you ready for tomorrow's challenges?"

"We'll see, Sifu. I've been practicing my hardest," he replied with a sideways grin of pure confidence. Ke Li couldn't stop herself from grinning, too.

"Yan Xue, why don't you have dinner tonight with my family and the Captain?" Choi's offer was nearly cut off by the bender's immediate acceptance. Ke Li's grin widened into a smile.

"Fong Du's around here somewhere, I'll have to invite him, too," Choi added, making his niece's smile drop dead. He began walking away, looking like he was searching for his prized student already. "Oh, and Ke Li. Your parents are coming to the bending performances tomorrow. Save them some seats." And he headed off. Xue immediately noticed Tso was now only a couple students away and was drawn to him, forgetting Ke Li and the other bender. The other student didn't mind; it looked like he was suffering from the same, dangerously high amounts of distraction.

With a defeated sigh, Ke Li returned to her cousin. "Did you know my parents were coming?"

Shai gave a slight negative head shake. "I didn't hear anything about it, but I figured…"

"Yeah." In all the years Ke Li had attended Choi's bending trials, she had always come alone. When her parents weren't busy with keeping up with the capital's trends, they did not have enough interest in sitting through students trying to earthbend. A sudden change like this made her almost feel on edge. News about her impending arranged marriage was bound to surface after the performances, and when it did, it would come from her parents. That was the only thing that could bring them to a student earthbending trial.

Ke Li was slowly growing aware of her stomach: its sudden heaviness made her feel sick. Apparently it showed.

"Don't make such a big fuss over it," Shai said with a perfect imitation of her mother's _tsk_. "I can't wait til I'm seventeen. Already my parents are talking of arranging me with the oldest son from the Yu family up the road. You know, the ones that are cousins with the King? Four times removed or something like that, but _still_…" Ke Li dropped on her backside under the tree, staring pitifully into space, and let Shai prattle on.

-----

a.n. Don't worry, the Gaang's gonna enter soon... I'm getting there. :p


End file.
